The squiggly mass of radiance crawled its way to Enojar. Enojar had foreseen a difficult situation like this, he had known his days were numbered, and since his capture, he had become a fan of contingencies. Enuma and its brothers, creations from his life force and his measly radiance. One of them had managed to escape utter destruction and it sensed its master's distress.
The pain in his feet fled at that moment. Everything that was going to happen next was all theoretical. Unlike radiant beasts whose radiance and life force were pure and unadulterated, Enuma's and his brothers were not just made from his radiant energy, there was another, a terrible yet necessary mix. There was another face of radiance, that which was obscure and dangerous, Enojar had managed to obtain some with a Radiant Beast terrible death, he called it Nihil. His creations were an equal blend of both energies.
Enojar had been afraid that absorbing them would eat him as the energy does. Nihil erodes and consumes, engulfing all in a stark dark. However, he was already close to demise. His only ticket to escaping his prison was Mike, but unfortunately there was no time, there always wasn't enough time.
He stretched his fingers, and his creation hastened in its approach. It seemed like time expanded and slowed at that moment. Mike could only watch from his cage.
The lizard creature thing melted into Enojar, creating a field of obsidian over his body. It was like he donned an armor that absorbed light, and the black shone vibrant.
Mike's eyes were opened wide.
Enojar's skin tightened, his creases pulled into smoothness and with hasty speed, his bumps disappeared giving him a youthful pale appearance. He was Enojar once again, terror of the Talcaf forest. The energy field over him sank into his body, ignoring the barrier that was his youthful skin.
Even Enojar did not foresee the height of pain he would feel. He screamed. His body felt invaded by the energy, he arched below, placing his arms down as thorns pierced through them. There was nothing but the pain within him.
Mike squinted his eyes, curious about the circle of transparent black over the elf's back. The black circle seemed to swell and appear bulbous, close to the brink of exploding when it suddenly shrank back to its original size, and now appeared like a massive tattoo across Enojar's back.
The thorns grew in numbers and length, and Mike felt a crack and a slight ease in his position. The wave of lethargy that seemed to have been constantly pressing down on him disappeared, the artifact had broken.
Mike felt his strength return, and his body shone as he exploded in radiant energy, blue aura encompassing him. What remained of the defective crystal artifact cracked and crumbled away. Mike was freed.
Enojar swung back to him, the last embers of pain corroding away. The elf's blue eyes took a yellowish tint and the white of his eyes turned dark.
His chest rose and Mike readied himself for an exchange of attacks when the elf vomited a puddle of slicky black. He wiped the stain from his lips and glared at Mike.
The elf did not look too good, Mike could see that, and could tell that the creature did not have much time left. The elf somehow looked even more sickly than previously despite its novel youth.
The wide slimy black-stained teeth sent a chill down Mike's spine and before he knew it, he sent forward a punch and a powerful blast of wind erupted from his clenched fist throwing the elf back and burying it in the thorns on the right wall by the door. The thorns did not spare Mike either, but with the overflowing radiance within him and his swift regeneration, the little sharp pain was negligible.
Enojar croaked. He had felt an incredible surge of power, he had felt invincible, like he could take XelanaTon and all of the radiant beasts, and he was certain he would do so this time, but as soon as the euphoria came, the hollowness and corruption followed. Lethargy befell him, and his legs felt wobbly and heavy, even moving his limbs felt like a task. Nihil fed on him, corrupted his organs with its corrosive force and they crumbled.
He croaked and wheezed, impaled by thorns, and he wondered just how Enuma and his siblings were a success.
'Ahh, I see now. I have not a lick of radiance left within me.'
There was no radiance within him to kickstart the reaction that would make him like his creations, he had been drained a long time ago and he could not tell.
'Oh, I am dying. I did not get to…did not get to put fear in XelanaTon's heart again. Oh…'
And it was all dark for the elf, his black and swollen tongue hung out, and his wounds leaked black blood.
"Huhhh," Mike looked at the corpse, his arm still held up. The move had been a rush of impulse, and he did not expect that to have been the end. His heart beat faster than it ever had and adrenaline flooded his blood stream.
"Is it dead?" He asked himself.
Then the prison parted, and Mike watched as the front half and Enojar's corpse fell. The prison sustained itself on the elf's radiance and life energy and since that was gone, nothing held it together anymore. However, half of the structure stood, and Mike stood in it.
From his vantage point, he could see a massive turtle-like creature and two dwarves. He did not spot the radiant beast who had sighted him before he sighted it. Their eyes locked and upon recognizing Mike, it attacked.
A gust of wind erupted from its mouth as it shrieked, releasing a multitude of wind blades down at Mike.
He thrust both hands up, and created a shield of wind over him, but that was not enough. The piercing power of the blades proved to be greater than what the shield could withstand.
First, one sank into his chest, and Mike recoiled slightly, then another went through his left arm, snapping it off his body.
He was pushed back from the attack, and his shield became undone. The wind slashes still came at him however.
His focus shifted from his torn arm to the wind slashes, what would he do next?